Vegan Mexican Meatball Soup

This vegan Mexican meatball soup is a hearty soup filled with carrots, potatoes, celery, and amazingly tender meatballs.

Prep time: PT10M

Cook time: PT30M

Total time: PT40M

Rating

4.57 stars (32 reviews)

Keywords

albondigas, meatball soup, mexican meatball soup, vegan meatball soup, vegan meatballs

Ingredients

1 tablespoon avocado oil
1/4 White or yellow onion, diced
1 tomato, diced (medium)
8 cups water
2 tablespoon Better than Bouillon no-chicken base ((or 2 no-chicken bouillon cubes + 2 vegetable bouillon cubes))
1 package (12 oz) Impossible plant-based ground beef, (defrosted (see note))
1/3 cup uncooked white rice, (long grain)
6-8 mint leaves, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoom garlic salt (( or 1/2 tsp. garlic powder + 1/2 tsp. salt))
2 medium carrots, diced
1-2 celery stalks, diced
2-3 caloro yellow peppers (or 1- 2 jalapeños)
2 cups diced potatoes
1 small Mexican zucchini, diced
3 sprigs cilantro

Cuisine

Mexican

Steps

To make the broth:
- Set a large soup pot to medium heat. Add 1 tbsp. of oil and add onion to the pot. Let onion cook for 2-3 minutes or until soft and translucent. Add tomato and cook for 3 minutes more. 
- Pour enough water into the pot to fill it 1/2 way. Bring to a simmer. Add Better than Bouillon No-Chicken base, and salt and pepper to taste (pepper is optional). Bring the broth to a low simmer.
Making the meatballs
- In a large bowl, combine the package of Impossible plant-based beef, 1/2 tsp. black pepper, 1 tsp. garlic salt, 1/3 cup of uncooked white rice, and chopped mint. Mix well.
- Form 8- 10 meatballs with your hands. Add them to the simmering broth.
- It's crucial not to stir the meatballs too much or they'll fall apart. Cook for 15 minutes.
- Add the carrots, celery, zucchini, potato, cilantro sprigs, and yellow peppers (do not cut) to the pot. Lower heat to medium-low, cover pot and let it thoroughly cook together for about 15 minutes.
- Add some chopped cilantro for finishing touch and let cook for a few minutes and you should have vegan albondigas! Don't forget the warm tortillas! Or even avocado slices!

Nutitrion

Serving Size: 1 bowl
Calories: 234 kcal
Carbohydrates: 41 g
Protein: 5 g
Fat: 6 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Trans Fat: 0.003 g
Cholesterol: 0.2 mg
Sodium: 1418 mg
Sugar: 4 g
Unsaturated Fat: 4 g

Reviews

Tracie on 2024-11-10 (5 stars):
Absolutely delicious! Tastes authentic! Thank you for everything you do, Dora!
Matthew K Wood on 2024-05-29 (5 stars):
By the way, I emailed Impossible Foods about producing ready made Albondigas meatballs. I bet they would sell like crazy. Fingers crossed!
Desiree Burke on 2023-10-15 (5 stars):
This recipe is a staple in my house I love it!
Yareli on 2022-12-05 (5 stars):
I’ve made this recipe so many times and it’s so incredible, it taste so good and so reminiscent of the versions I had growing up! I tend to place the meatballs in the fridge for about ten minutes before dropping them into the broth- Ive never had them fall apart while cooking. Thanks for the recipe!
Elsa on 2022-11-20 (5 stars):
I haven’t eaten this dish since I was a meat-eater so many years ago I made this today and I was literally in tears because I was instantly transported to my mothers kitchen and memories came flooding back of this delicious comfort food Thank you so much for this recipe I will be making it again
Vanessa on 2022-11-18 (5 stars):
Made this delicious soup for dinner. I haven't had a soup like this since going vegan over a decade ago and it really hit the spot.
Laura on 2022-11-14 (5 stars):
This is the 2nd soup season that we’re happily eating this soup. It’s so good! I like to keep my meal prep easy, so I have used both Beyond & Impossible readymade meatballs in place of homemade ones, both held together well.
Adriana on 2021-05-03 (5 stars):
(Also I totally cooked the rice in advance but it was cooked before I added to the ground! Just seeing now it didn’t have to be cooked in advance but think it helped mine stay together :) thanks again!)
Adriana on 2021-05-03 (5 stars):
YUM! I used this recipe as a foundation with some small changes and it was delicious! Changes were mostly that I used Impossible ground (12oz) with prob 2/3 cup basmati white rice, spices and just a tiny bit of JustEgg for the meatballs- held together great and cooked perfectly in the soup! Thanks so much for sharing this delightful recipe :)
VeganPerson on 2021-01-14 (5 stars):
Meant to give 5 stars my apologies.
VeganPerson on 2021-01-14 (3 stars):
Hi Dora, thank you for developing this recipe! My abuelita made this so much for me growing up, so I am very attached to this dish. I saw that some people mentioned it, but I'll also give my input so that maybe it can be added to the notes: I used some flax eggs instead of the vegan eggs (I used 4 total), plus a bit of flour (maybe around 1/4 of a cup) and even though I was skeptical, they held their shape well! I think one thing people should also note is to make sure the liquid is simmering and not boiling, as I noticed the force of boiling water is enough to shatter the meatballs. Just my two cents, thanks for the recipe! (: